It’s finally happening. Pacific Northwest natives know the tell-tale signs: the sun has returned, the days are longer and warmer, and the farmer’s market is teeming with bright, red gems. Strawberry Season is here!
We are incredibly lucky to have access to a delicious, bountiful, and diverse selection of locally grown strawberries every year. They are a prized Oregon tradition in June and July, much like visiting the rose garden or floating the river (except, well, tastier).
But what are these delicious berries doing for our health? As it turns out, the answer is that this summertime favorite is doing you a lot of good, even once the taste is gone.
Here are some of the hidden ways that including strawberries in your diet can have a positive impact on your health:
1. Low-Glycemic Fruit
Strawberries may be nature’s candy, but they certainly won’t raise your blood sugar like a handful of skittles would. In fact, strawberries are considered a low-glycemic food, which means they have a minimal impact on your blood sugar. This makes them a perfect treat for anyone working to maintain healthy glucose levels or avoid mid-day spikes.
2. High-Antioxidant Content
Strawberries are high on the list of fruits with large concentrations of antioxidants, making them extremely nutrient dense. For example, one serving of strawberries has more vitamin C than an entire orange, making them a great choice for increasing these vital nutrients in your diet.
3. Mineral-Rich
Alongside antioxidants, strawberries are also very high in crucial minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium. These minerals help your body to function more effectively.
So, go ahead! Eat your fresh strawberries and savor the sweetness of summer, fruit, and a more well-rounded, nutrient-dense diet.
Written by Jody Cecil, our Licensed Professional Counselor
As we enjoy longer days and more sunshine, it seems like the season of spring has been showing off around here, hasn’t it? I love time outdoors any time of the year, but there’s something magical about hiking on a warm spring day. So many vibrant colors and new growth. We also celebrate the promise of new beginnings as humans during this season. Spring offers us a chance to begin again. Of course, if you’re anything like me, you may also be afraid of that fresh start. The beginning may feel like stepping off a cliff into the unknown.
Change results in a variety of emotions, including fear. Graduation ceremonies continue as our high school students celebrate a major milestone, and while most of the graduating seniors will tell you they can’t wait to be done, the reality is that those same students are experiencing a multitude of emotions. In a recent blog post, I wrote about the paradox ofnew beginnings (Graduation: A Heartfelt Goodbye). It’s normal to celebrate and grieve simultaneously, just as it’s valid to experience fear when facing change. Fear bubbles up, even when we actively choose to go in a new direction.
The ability to embrace two opposing thoughts, or in this case emotions, is an actual skill within Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that focuses on helping individuals manage their emotions, improve their relationships, and make more effective decisions. (I wrote about the skill of dialectical thinking in my blog in October, 2024, The Power of Both/And).DBT combines strategies like mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness to promote a balanced and nuanced way of thinking. The skills within DBT are practical and can be applied to everyday life.
When experiencing various reactions to change, another helpful skill is self-validation. This coping strategy involves recognizing and accepting your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences without judgment. It means acknowledging your emotions and experiences as valid and real, even if they are difficult or uncomfortable. When it comes to change, it can be easy for us to dismiss our own feelings of fear or grief. After all, aren’t we supposed to be excited? Validating our own feelings can help to lower their intensity.
Whatever changes you face today, my hope is that you embrace the experience knowing you are not alone and can develop new skills to help you cope with the challenges that arise. If you’re interested in learning more about DBT, reach out to Jody Cecil, our licensed professional counselor at the Flourish Center. You can contact her through her website at Taking Root Counseling.
Written by Jody Cecil, our Licensed Professional Counselo
As we turn the corner into May, we find ourselves in graduation season. Children and adults of all ages are making plans to commemorate the end of a journey, whether it’s the completion of kindergarten or college. After months or years of hard work and dedication, the students have finally reached the culmination of their academic journey. It’s time to celebrate . . . and grieve.
During graduation season, campuses are abuzz with excitement and anticipation. Students don their caps and gowns, ready to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. Families and friends gather to celebrate the achievements of their loved ones, often traveling hundreds of miles to be part of this special moment. This year, I’m personally celebrating the achievements of both of our adult children as they complete their undergraduate and graduate programs.
Graduation season is also a time of transformation and transition. It brings a sense of accomplishment and joy, but also sadness as students prepare to leave behind the familiar environment of their schools and embark on new adventures. It’s a time for reflecting on the past, cherishing memories, and looking forward to the future with hope and determination.
While reflecting on my own experiences of graduation, I began to hum the words of an old but familiar song, written by Pete Seeger and performed by multiple artists including The Byrds in 1965, “Turn! Turn! Turn!”:
To everything, turn, turn, turn There is a season, turn, turn, turn And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones A time to gather stones together
The song expresses the reality of a changing, or turning, world in which there is a time and place for everything. Ends mark beginnings. We rejoice and we cry. Graduation is about turning, a change in direction, and with that turning comes a mix of emotions. I’ve been privileged to take part in multiple graduation ceremonies, the last being my own master’s degree in counseling over a decade ago. I can remember the anticipation and excitement as I waited my turn to walk across the stage, receive my diploma, shake hands with a dignitary I barely knew and wave to my family and friends. The grief that followed surprised me. I slowly realized that while I had completed a major milestone, I was also losing a close-knit friendships and the familiarity of an environment and routine. While the days of writing papers and taking exams were over, I was about to start over without the community I had enjoyed for so long.
With all of life, we learn that to be human, to be fully alive, means we hold excitement for the future along with the grief for what we are leaving behind. To turn towards the new means saying goodbye. As we celebrate with friends and family this season, may we all hold space for the celebration as well as the sadness. After all, there is a season for everything. Turn. Turn. Turn.
As a licensed professional counselor, Jody sees clients both virtually and in person at the Flourish Center. She uses a variety of modalities to help her clients in reaching their goals including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Whatever modality is used, Jody values the uniqueness and strengths of each person and invites them to embrace healing wholistically. If you are interested in counseling, you can contact Jody here, Taking Root Counseling.
It’s finally starting to warm up! The days are longer, brighter, and full of exciting outdoor activities. Whether you’re taking a much-awaited tropical vacation, embarking on a long weekend hike, or just taking your dog out for a stroll around the neighborhood, it’s important to protect your skin from sun damage. But with more and more brands promising to provide the “best” quality sun protection for your money, it can be difficult to pick a product that’s right for you.
To help you get started, here are a few tips and tricks worth considering:
Step One: Look for Green Flag Ingredients and Qualifiers
There are a lot of buzzwords around the perfect skincare–so what really matters? When looking for a high-quality sunblock, you’ll want to grab something broad-spectrum.This means that the product is equipped to protect you from multiple kinds of harmful sun rays. This is important for maintaining the longevity of your skin, as well as preventing sun-damage related diseases like skin cancer.
You will also want to find a product with SPF 30 or higher, the rating recommended by the American Academy of dermatology. SPF, which stands for “Sun Protection Factor,” is a measurement of how effectively a sunscreen is protecting your skin, so it’s important to make sure to keep a high-rating in mind.
If you plan on swimming or frequently perform strenuous exercise, it might also be worth looking for a water-proof sunscreen. This option would help to protect your skin better in cases where other sunscreens may simply wash off or lose effectiveness more quickly. It is important to remember that, even when wearing a waterproof sunscreen, you will need to reapply every 40 to 80 minutes when sweating or swimming.
Step Two: Avoid Red Flag Environmental and Human Toxins
All skin deserves sunscreen, but not all products advertised as sunscreen deserve to be on your skin (or, for that matter, in our oceans). Some common sunscreens in the United States include known human and environmental toxins, including:
Oxybenzone or benzophenone-3
Avobenzone
Homosalate
Octinoxate
Octocrylene
Octisalate
While scientists have a variety of concerns regarding the use and application of these chemicals–including worries about hormone disruption, carcinogenic properties, and environmental destruction–they are still incredibly common on the sunscreen market. By doing your own research into these and other ingredients in your sunscreen, you arm yourself with the knowledge and confidence to make decisions that you feel good about.
Step Three: Mineral VS Chemical
There are two kinds of sunscreen available to us as consumers; mineral and chemical. The formula that’s best for you will depend on your individual skin needs, such as skin sensitivity and skin type. If you have sensitive skin, you may prefer a mineral sunscreen with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. While effective, this sunscreen is less likely to irritate sensitive skin when compared to a chemical sunscreen.
If you often find yourself disliking your sunscreen because it leaves a white cast on your skin, you may prefer to use a chemical sunscreen. As many of these kinds of sunscreen are clear rather than white, and don’t rely on mineral blockers that add pigment to the formula, you might find that they better suit your skin. Though chemical sunscreen can absolutely be a good option–and may even be more effective than their mineral counterparts at blocking harmful sun damage–it is especially important to be mindful of the ingredients in your product, as many of the toxic chemicals we discussed earlier on are most present in this type of sunscreen (though there are still great choices on the market!).
Step Four: Trial and Error
The truth is, we don’t always get it right on the first try, and it can be hard to navigate all of the ingredients, considerations, and personal skin needs that go into making a decision about sun protection. One way to parse through the products available is to use the Environmental Working Group (EWG)’s list of certified products. Their approved products are carefully screened for environmental toxins, and you can sort out harmful ingredients like human toxins using their handy sorting tool, which allows you to select specific criteria (including cancer risk and allergen concerns) when searching their directory.
With so many incredible and diverse products on the market, there’s no reason to settle for one that you don’t love. Sun protection and healthy skin are worth investing in, so don’t be afraid to test out a couple of different sunscreens until you find your perfect fit. There are plenty of choices out there, each designed to support a different set of skin needs–products with moisturizer, mattifying formulas, sunblocks that double as makeup primers or color correctors. With a little patience, time, and research, you can find a sunscreen that protects your skin and blends seamlessly into your skincare routine–year round!
There are many plant allies coming up in our yards right now. Here are 3 of my favorites:
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
One of the first spring green plants to arrive is dandelion. Yes, those pesky plants that seed so easily and many work very hard to eradicate. They are such a great example of resilience and determination. Dandelions are full of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C, and K and are good sources of calcium, potassium, iron and manganese. They are very bitter, thus they increase bile flow from the liver and gallbladder to help relieve whole body congestion and improve digestion. The leaves can be eaten raw in salads, cooked in olive oil, added to your green smoothie, or made into tea.
Violet (Viola odorata)
Another plant that grows abundantly in this area is violet. Violet leaves are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A and C. Violet is known to be a blood purifier and cleanser for the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that rid the body of toxins and wastes. Taking violet after winter may assist the body to cleanse any leftover toxins for a more energetic spring. When harvesting, you can use the whole plant, or just the leaves and the top of the stem. The thin roots are particularly known to be powerful for lymph cleansing. I find them especially helpful for benign lumps and cysts in the breast tissue. Make an infusion of violets by pouring boiling water over the plant material, covering for 30 minutes, and then drinking.
Cleavers (Galium aparine)
In my yard, I also have a plant many consider a another annoying weed, Cleavers. Cleavers have been used historically for the lymphatic system. They are known to drain swollen glands and cleanse the system. They have long been used to treat skin conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis and as an external poultice for wounds and sores. They have also been used to soothe irritation in the bladder. You’ll know you’ve got the right one when it sticks to your clothes. Cleavers is also taken as an infusion.
Harvesting tips and reminders:
Save the environment and the plants, and don’t spray your yard! Always be sure you are harvesting from a clean and untreated area.
I let my dandelions grow like crazy and use them all season long. In fact, I blow the seeds around my garden. I also let the violets grow and use them as a ground cover around my other herbs.
Please be absolutely sure of the identification of plants before taking them internally.
See your healthcare provider for health issues. This is not mean to be medical advice, simply thoughts about additions to your diet.
Please share this post with your friends so we can all reap the benefits of our spring lawns.
Also be sure to sign-up for the FLOURISH newsletter on the bottom of this page for weekly integrative health and wellness tips.
Recent Comments